Halfling
by Shadows of Darkness
Summary: Minato sealed Kyuubi in his son using a jutsu. But his friend sacrificed his daughter to get that technique and it was never mentioned. Now 16 years later Sakura has to seek out the handsome stranger, who promised to train her... full summary inside


**_Hello everybody !! This is my second fiction, YEAH FOR ME!! Well, I was supposed to be finishing my other fiction's 2 second chapter but I just had to write this. Hey, Enough of me babbling, ENJOY_**

**Summary:** Minato sealed Kyuubi in his son. But his friend sacrificed his daughter to get the technique and it was never mentioned. Now 16 years later Sakura has to seek out the handsome Darkling, who promised to train her but little did she know that she was a halfling, neither a human nor a Darkling.

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**Prologue**

He didn't know what to do. He still couldn't come up with a plan to save _his_ people. Right now, they were preparing for their death, waiting for their trusted leader to do something. But he had failed them. He had failed as a leader, he had failed as a sensei, he had failed as a lover and, finally, he had failed as a father. Yes, he has failed as a father. He thought that his child would be born into a peaceful world, which he tried so hard to create. But now, it was possible that everyone would die because of the demon Kyuubi no Kitsune.

One day ago, a messenger came informing him that the fox demon was headed to Konoha and it started the chaos in the village. He went through all the scrolls, searching a way to stop a demon. But it was fruitless because all the scrolls only described demons, known to humankind, and no way of defeating them. He gave the order to evacuate the citizens but all the shinobys had to stay and fight. His wife, Kushina, was pregnant and it only made his "things to worry about" list bigger. He asked Sarutobi if he knew anything about scrolls, which literally talked about dangerous techniques big enough to affect an overgrown fox. Sarutobi said that he'll go with his men to dig around in the forbidden area of the library.

And now he was stuck in the Tower, until Sarutobi came back with information. His stomach was twisting in worry and nervousness. If Sarutobi didn't get here in one hour he would leave to confront the demon and fight until his last breath.

Minato stopped pacing around and sat down on his chair. The clock on his wall said it was 9 pm. The old councilors predicted that the demon, at this rate, would arrive in Konohagakure the day after tomorrow. A lot of his men already went out there to try and slow down the Nine Tailed Fox but he was sitting here, safe in the Tower. He was disgusted at himself.

"Minato." The young Hokage looked up at the door, startled. A man was standing there; it was obvious that he was a shinoby. The young leader instantly recognized him.

"Ah. Hiroshi, what are you doing here?" asked Minato. Hiroshi just smiled at him.

"Well, what a surprise. This is the first time I see a serious Minato. Is the world coming to end?" If it was any other person it would be hard to say if it was a joke but Hiroshi was his good old friend and he could always lighten up the atmosphere no matter what.

Minato laughed a little "You don't know how right you are Hiroshi."

"Don't worry too much Minato or your hair will turn grey. Then you would be the Grey Flash, not the Yellow Flash" Hiroshi said while sitting down in the nearest chair. Minato was happy that Hiroshi was here and they started talking about their shared memories, momentarily forgetting about their inevitable future.

There was a knock on the door and Sarutobi came in, with out waiting for a response. He looked at Hiroshi but didn't say anything.

"Minato, I think you'll be interested in this" said Sarutobi, opening a scroll and putting it in front of Minato. The young Hokage took the scroll and tried to read it but it was almost impossible, seeing that the scroll was very old and the words were smudged. But the key word is almost. Minato's eyes widened as he was reading the scroll and Hiroshi walked up to him and was also reading the scroll over his shoulder. After they finished, the tension was great, even Hiroshi didn't utter a word.

"This is absurd! How can we believe in this nonsense!" said frustrated Minato, throwing the scroll to the table.

"But we have to try. There is no other way. Even if such things doesn't exist, at least we did something rather than waiting for the death to consume us" Sarutobi said.

While they were arguing Hiroshi started to read the scroll again. It talked about old beliefs and demons, which people called the Darklings. They were the biggest nightmare of every person because humankind was their favorite food. Darklings only hunted in the dark and humans couldn't do anything to save themselves, until chakra was developed. People found out that chakra harmed them almost killing them. And so the Darklings went extinct but some still disagreed, saying that those demons only went into hiding.

But what really caught Hiroshi's attention is that Darklings could give you power that nobody could imagine. The only thing you have to do is give them something most precious to you. But also when you use the given power, the person's soul would be eaten by the Shinigami.

"But the scroll is ancient and it might have been written by some old lunatic!!" screamed Minato completely enraged. But Sarutobi seemed calm about the matter and it only made Minato angrier.

"Minato… I think we should try this" said Hiroshi still reading over the part about the power. Minato looked shocked that Hiroshi was taking the scroll seriously. "We don't have much time and we have to consider everything that might help no matter how ludicrous it seems."

Minato finally gave in "Okay. But where are we going to find them?"

"The Forest of the Dead (I completely made this up )" said Sarutobi, pulling out another scroll from his robe. "This is the forest where only the dead can pass through but it seems the Darklings found their way to that place with their lives. And I think this is how they did it" he opened the scroll and wrote the word 'open' on it. The scroll seemed to glow and a black vortex formed in the middle of the room.

"Well? Who wants to go first?" asked Minato still staring at the black mass.

"I think we should at least be prepared with weapons and people, who could back us up" said Hiroshi with uneasiness because he was the only one, who isn't on the level of the strong Kage here.

"Hiroshi, we don't have time for that, we have to do this now" said Sarutobi going into the black vertex first.

"You heard what the old man said. Let's go" said Minato dragging Hiroshi with him and together they followed the Third Hokage.

They ended up in a dark forest and Sarutobi already started walking in one direction. Minato wondered how the old man knew where to go.

"Sarutobi-sama, do you know where we are going?" asked Hirochi like reading his mind. Sandaime didn't answer and also stopped walking. Something was standing few feet away from them. Minato and Hiroshi carefully reached for their weapons but Sarutobi held out his hand, signaling them to stop.

"We mean no harm. We are only here to talk with the Darklings. Are you one of them?" asked the Third. The thing started to walk towards them and it turned out that it was a big black panther with two fangs long as knifes. It walked up to them and started sniffing them one by one. Minato tensed up when the panther got closer to him. But the animal seemed satisfied with something and started to go back to the direction it came from.

"It wants us to follow" stated Sarutobi, starting to walk after it. Minato and Hiroshi had no choice but to go after the Third.

They were walking for few hours. On the way the three of them using Katon made torches with sticks. The forest trees were weakly glowing blue but it seemed the illumination was enough for the panther to see not for the humans. Minato still didn't trust the animal and always kept his free hand near his kunai pouch.

At last the panther stopped walking and suddenly disappeared from their sight. Minato, Sarutobi and Hiroshi instantly formed a circle and tensed when they felt a sinister presence.

"Ningens." The voice came from the place, where the panther last stood. The three shinoby's looked up and almost dropped their weapons. In front of them stood a magnificent panther, whose shoulders reached the tallest of shinoby's forehead and was also filled with big and lean muscles. The fur was so silky black that with faintest of light it glowed and its legs were long and built for speed. Overall the beast was incredibly beautiful. Its indigo eyes were filled with hidden white fire and when the great panther looked at them, they felt like the gaze pierced right through them.

"How long has it been since I last had a taste of a human. I never thought that humankind would come here" said the panther. As if on cue other but much smaller panthers started to come out of the forest surrounding the three ninjas.

"Great beast! We came here because it is said that you Darklings can grant an incredible power to us humans!" Sarutobi faced the demon with determination. The panther seemed to think about something and then smirked with its predatory mouth. The smirk unsettled Minato and he became, if possible, even more cautious.

"Ah yes" said the panther "But you do know that one of you has to give me something most precious to him" it grinned at them and other panthers stopped moving like waiting for them to say 'no' so that they could have a decent meal.

"We know of the deal" said Minato and the demon looked at him like finally taking notice of him.

"So which one of you wants the power" asked the dark beast, lying down and looking at them with amusement in his deep colored eyes.

"I want the power to stop the Kyuubi no Kitsune" said Minato. The panthers eyes widened a bit and it smiled at him with promise full of suffering and despair. Minato involuntarily shuddered.

"Ah the Nine Tailed Fox. Who would have thought?" the beast seemed even more amused "Unfortunately, I don't know of any power that can kill an overgrown fox" Minato and Sarutobi felt like their last hope had been crushed. "But" it paused a bit "I know how to seal him"

"Tell us!!" screamed Minato, losing his patients. He had to save his people not play word games with an animal.

"Not until you decide which one of you is going to give up their most important-" started the beast but was interrupted.

"I will give you what you want" suddenly said Hiroshi with the burst of his shinoby courage. Sarutobi and Minato stood shocked.

"Hiroshi, you don't have to" whispered Minato but his friend only shook his head no. The panther smirked like he won something priceless and it even stood up with excitement.

"You know that there is no backing down now" asked the panther. Hiroshi nodded not trusting himself to speak. "How _very_ marvelous. _Marvelous_ indeed" it said to itself and started to walk towards Hiroshi but the shinoby stood his ground. The cat looked right into Hiroshi's eyes and started to walk away. It lifted his paw and with one claw sliced the air diagonally. Nothing happened but then the black vortex formed and this time the shinoby's could see what was in it. Hiroshi looked into it and suddenly jerked back. Minato and Sarutobi readied their stance waiting for something to jump out of the mass.

"What… Why…" Hiroshi didn't appear to have any words say. Finally, calming himself he asked "Why those this vortex lead to my daughters room!"

"Ah. But you promised that you would give me something most precious to you" said the beast like taunting him. Hiroshi looked shocked. Minato was also shocked that the panther wanted Hiroshi's daughter and he could see that his friend was shaking.

"What's the matter ningen? Don't tell me you're scared. It appears to be that you are not so eager to stop the Kyuubi" it said as if giving the shinoby a chance to choose again but it's eyes said that the panther will get what he wants no matter what. Other dark beings started to circle them, waiting for the signal from their leader to attack.

"No. If it means helping my village then you can have her" Hiroshi ran into the vortex and few minutes later came back with a bundle in his hands. The panther indicated to the clearing, clearly saying to leave the baby there.

Hiroshi with great difficulty walked into the clearing and put his child on the ground. He touched his daughter's hair, which was bright pink, and pulled his hand back as if burned when the girl opened her eyes. Two beautiful emeralds stared at him like understanding what was going on. Hiroshi stood up and walked away, not even glancing back because he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Minato put his hand on Hiroshi's shoulder to calm him down and looked at the panther, which was trembling with excitement. He didn't like it one bit because it felt like the panther had planned for this the whole time.

Snakes and panthers formed a circle around Hiroshi's daughter. The great demon walked up to the baby and suddenly a black mist, almost like chakra, formed around his being and it started to cover the little girl. Other demons, too, followed him and the black mist little by little disappeared seeing that it was seeping into the girl. The three shinoby's trembled because the sensation they got from the black thing was sinister and pure evil.

And it was over after much waiting. The other demons except the sadistic panther disappeared and it turned around to look at them with great satisfaction in its eyes.

"What have you done to her?" demanded Hiroshi with clenched fists. The panther didn't answer the question.

"You can have the little one back" it said instead.

With out a second thought Hiroshi ran to his daughter's side to pick her up. He for something unusual but his girl was same as before. Hiroshi glared at the demon before leaping to Minato's side. Minato looked at the girl for the first time, startled to see a pink hair.

"Now I'll give you what you want as promised" the panther pushed his paw hard on the forest floor and when he lifted it there was a scroll on the ground. "Take it and go. But I warn you if something happens to the little one I will hold you three responsible"

"Wait! At least tell us your name!" suddenly asked Sarutobi after being frozen the whole time.

"You can't pronounce my name with your mundane tongues" said the beast with disgust in his voice "But you can call me Reiji, the leader of the Darklings" said dark being before disappearing. The vortex opened behind them after the Darkling left. Minato walked to the scroll and lifted it up.

"Let's go. We have a fox to seal" said Minato.

The very next day the Kyuubi invaded Konoha. The Yondaime used his son to seal the demon and in result he died, what an irony. Many had died and the Sandaime again became the leader to restore the village. A law was passed that no person would mention things about the Kyuubi or the child it was sealed in. Where the young leader learned the dangerous technique was never mentioned.

It was amusing to watch the things called humans, who always try to cover the truth to have bliss. But he was not concerned about the incompetent fools, his whole attention was on _his_ little one. The girl, who shared the Darklings very being, she was connected to him, a bond thicker than blood. With just one glance he could tell that the girl would grow up to be a very beautiful woman with great potential and now she _belonged_ to him.

Reiji looked away from the pond and the images disappeared. He looked down at his front paws to see human hands and smirked. Those fools didn't know that he also had a human form. He brushed away the hair that got in his view and grinned. _Soon, Haruno Sakura, very soon we will meet again and when that time comes you will remain with me forever._

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**_This is the end of the prologue. To tell you the truth, I still don't know if I should continue this fiction. Tell me if you like it or not, it will encourage me so much and THANK YOU FOR READING!!_**


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